Judy Moran's lawyers look for drug link to Des Moran murder
Gangland matriarch Judy Moran is fighting for the right to appeal her murder conviction over the public execution of her brother-in-law in a Melbourne cafe.
The 72-year-old's legal team says it wants to investigate a possible new motive for Des Moran's murder, involving links to a major drug syndicate.
Judy Moran lost her sons, Jason and Mark, and her ex-husband, Lewis, in Melbourne's gangland war.
Des Moran was also gunned down publicly in 2009, but this time Judy Moran played the role of murderer, rather than victim.
Two years after his death, she was convicted of his murder. Now, she is beginning her fight to contest that conviction.
Judy Moran is five years into a 26-year sentence after being convicted of murder at trial.
Her motive, the prosecution submitted, was tied to a family dispute with inherited money the central factor.
But on Friday her legal team raised the prospect of another motive for Des Moran's murder, one they say needs to be explored.
It's based on what her barrister, Robert Richter QC, argued was critical information withheld at trial.
It centres on the owner of the Ascot Vale café where Des Moran was gunned down.
At the time, the man, who cannot be named, was on bail over his role in the 2007 importation of $122 million worth of ecstasy found hidden in tomato tins.
But his involvement in the drug haul was not revealed to Moran's defence at trial, where he was called as a witness.
Judy Moran's legal team is now seeking to explore potential links between Des Moran, the cafe owner and the man who pulled the trigger in Moran's murder, saying it could lead to exposing an alternate motive for the murder.
One, they argue, could be tied to drugs, and not to Judy Moran.
News break – September 9
